Search For Posts

June 13, 2021

Library



crooked streets and dead ends are always found
by someone who doesn’t know where they’re going

too many nights waiting for promises wearing red satin dresses 

sought wisdom in volumes of books and found some in the streets 

on street corners and curbs and dodging cars

was supposed to be a business major but it was all wrong, it’s no good

instead of a big man on campus, I was a miniscule scribbler

camping out in the library on saturday nights 

the current chapter of life was like the one before it 

which was like the one before that and probably the one after that

only the words were moved around

the names had been changed to protect the hapless 

yet, happiest were all the hours spent in the college library 

reading not what I was supposed to, but what I wanted

I always believed that it would be a great day if I spent the entire day reading

later, I amended it to reading, writing poems, and creating art and by god I was right

cutting classes and just holed up in the library 

the routine of a dateless school night

interrupted by the finding of a Led Zeppelin album among the empty chairs and tables 

of the quiet room that was rarely used except by me

I took my treasure home with me and listened to it softly on my rca record player

out of fear the owner might somehow overhear it and want it back 

I was motivated to read books about motivation but that’s where it stopped 

hours spent learning, seconds or sometimes no time at all spent applying 

the books had it down in black and white but real life was more of a murky gray 

Algebra 10200, English 12100, Calculus 15010, Accounting 12345, and so on

we could have all used a course on Life 101 

I eventually quit going to college but I did miss that library